I just checked my account after reading through this thread...and I GOT IN. I opted in and am not an F&F.

I want to give you guys proof, because that's what I would want to see if someone claimed to get in on the opt-in. Below is a screenshot of my bnet account page, with my WoW username shown (so you know its me!). If there is any other proof you want, I'll give it to you. Just ask.

Blizzard- if you DO eventually release Diablo 3, I refuse to play unless you make it subscription-based. I would also like purchasable in-game vanity pets to be featured in your online store. And hardcore characters that can be resurrected (for a hefty fee, of course).

The collector's edition will probably come with some sort of in-game perk as well as out-of-game goodies, similar to Starcraft 2.

-StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty Collector's Edition Features:

* The Art of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, a 176-page book featuring artwork from the game
* An exclusive 2GB USB flash drive replica of Jim Raynor's dog tag, which comes preloaded with the original StarCraft and the StarCraft: Brood War expansion set
* A behind-the-scenes DVD containing over an hour of developer interviews, cinematics with director's commentary, and more
* The official StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty soundtrack CD, containing 14 epic tracks from the game along with exclusive bonus tracks
* StarCraft comic book issue #0, a prequel to the comic series
* A World of Warcraft mini Thor in-game pet that can be applied to all World of Warcraft characters on a single Battle.net account
* Exclusive Battle.net downloadable content, including special portraits for your Battle.net profile, decals to customize your units in-game, and a visually unique version of the terran Thor unit

I think that would only work in a single player game. What would happen if you DC'd and killed some monsters or started an event during that 5 seconds...it could conflict with the actions of players still connected to the game. It could also lead to monsters being "killed" twice, once in live and again in the 5 second DC timer... It would lead to some really strange outcomes, that's for sure

Save and exit is an exploitable tactic for HC mode. It is pointless to come up with a flawless system when there is already a way to exploit it. The point is to minimize problems for real DC issues without leaving too much room for exploiting.

There will always be exploits. I guess it could be set so that you must wait 10 seconds or so to exit a game, but if you disconnect I would rather err on the safe side and implement a character stasis method then have people lose hardcore characters that they've poured time and effort into because their kid knocked over the router.

Bungie has been dealing with disconnect exploits for some time in their Halo games. As it stands, if you disconnect every once in a while (aka on accident), they let it slide. If they see you disconnecting all the time (aka to exploit), they take action. Blizzard could do the same, I suppose.

That's life. How is it any different from dying to a lag spike without getting disconnected, which I do frequently in D2?

The difference is dying during a disconnect is preventable, while dying to a lag spike is not. If Blizzard used Scyber's idea for disconnects or reused the current Diablo 2 system, dying during a DC would become a non-issue.

That would require them to store a snapshot of the game state for every single player until they log back on, which requires a ton of servers. I don't want D3 to have a monthly fee And how would this system deal with players that DC, joins a game with more players, restore hp, and then goes back to the solo game. Or even gain levels instead of simply restoring hp. Or does it force players to reconnect?

If a player joined another game, they would be disconnected from the previous game. Obviously this is exploitable, but it would resolve the server snapshot issue. I think Blizzard could find a way to cleverly implement something like this w/o putting too much strain on their servers

You can't pause the whole game because of other players in the game with you.

Starcraft 2 has a pause option built into multiplayer games with more than one person. Since Blizzard already stated (I can't remember where) that there will be a separation between PvE and PvP games in Diablo 3, I wouldn't be surprised if some sort of vote to pause option was implemented (everyone must accept to pause) for a PvE session. I wouldn't like it because I feel like it would disconnect players from the multiplayer gaming experience, but it could happen.

when you get DC'd, your character remains where it is but is invulnerable until you log back on.

Good idea, probably the best I've heard so far for a solution to disconnects. It would be cool if characters turned ethereal and/or partially left the mortal plane when you DC'd like a shimmering ghost image until you returned or the time limit expired.

I'm pretty sure they could program it so that when you get DC'd, your character remains where it is but is invulnerable until you log back on. That way people can't exploit it to get out of a bad situation and others won't be punished by when it happens on accident.

Isn't this almost equivalent to an instant quit? Being invulnerable for a short period before your character leaves a session would have the same effect as being able to exit a game immediately. It could be used (and abused) the same way one would use the current D2 quit system.

If you get disconnected you will not leave the game immediately, since that can be used to leave when you are about to die. You will probably leave the game when you join a new game (or reconnect), or after a little while.

This could cause a lot of grief for Hardcore characters who get disconnected from a game...imagine your HC character dying because it got whittled down by a fallen while you frantically tried to reconnect to the server.

Disconnects happen. I have a great ISP, but I still get booted from Bnet in SC2 or WoW from time to time.

They have mentioned that they want a system that functions similarly to an Auction House that allows you keep fighting while you trade, and the possibility to do so both in a game and while in the battle.net lobby. No specifics are revealed though.

I certainly wouldn't mind some sort of auction house. It's a great gold sink (Auction house takes a cut of your earnings + a posting/cancellation fee)...and it would mean the addition of a mailbox (or courier/holding house/etc)

Well depending on load times, you could quit out using a delayed quit system like WoW, and whenever you got back you could start the game back up. If you start in the last place you are and not in town that is. If they make it so that you always start off in town, then they'd have to have some kind of pause, or some other option that allows you to get out of action so you can take a short break. It would be annoying otherwise.

This brings up a lot of interesting possibilities. When you get disconnected from Bnet, will your character be immediately pulled from the game? Will there be a buffer period where your toon stands catatonic for 20 or so seconds before leaving a session?

These are all questions I would have liked to ask a blue on Blizzard forums right now, but since most are "AFK for the holidays" I'm probably better off waiting.